In a remote Highland glen, Ruth Ogilvie, a single mother, is losing the battle to keep her wayward daughter focussed on schoolwork rather than the laird's student son.

The laird, however, is unconcerned about his offspring, as he obsessively pours all his energies into outshining Balmoral when he opens his wife's castle and grounds to members of the public. But then a string of violent events occurs.